When it comes to making your own homemade chocolate there are lots of different chocolates that can use depending on your tastes and who you are making the chocolate for. For example, dark chocolate has no milk products in it so if you are making chocolate for someone that is a vegan or someone that is lactose intolerant you should use a dark chocolate base because it doesn’t contain any milk. Here is a quick overview of the most common types of chocolate that you can use to make your own homemade chocolate:
Unsweetened chocolate – You probably have has some experience with unsweetened chocolate before. Unsweetened chocolate is often used in baking to add a rich chocolate flavor to food. You can unsweeten chocolate as a base to make sugar free chocolate and use something other than sugar to give the chocolate a sweeter taste. Many people that are diabetic or are watching their sugar intake will use unsweetened chocolate and a sugar substitute to make their own homemade chocolate.
Dark chocolate – As previously stated, dark chocolate has no milk in it so it’s great to use as a base for people that can’t or choose not to eat milk or milk products. Some people also enjoy the dark, slightly bitter taste of dark chocolate.
Bittersweet chocolate – This chocolate is slightly sweeter than unsweetened chocolate that has no sugar in it at all but it has very little sugar in it. If you want to make chocolate that has a lot less sugar than other types of chocolate but you don’t want to use a commercial sugar substitute you can use bittersweet chocolate as a base for your homemade chocolates.
Semi-sweet chocolate – Semi-sweet chocolate is slightly sweeter than bittersweet chocolate and has a slightly higher sugar content but still has a lower sugar content than most chocolate. Semi-sweet is one of the most popular type of chocolates used in candy making and is also often used in making chocolate chip cookies.
Milk chocolate – Milk chocolate is a rich chocolate that contains high levels of sugar and at least 12% milk or milk solids. Most milk chocolate is made with condensed or evaporated milk. Milk chocolate is very sweet and has a very low cocoa content so it doesn’t have the bitter or slightly harsh taste that other chocolates have.
White Chocolate – White chocolate is really not chocolate, it’s a confection made of cocoa butter, sugar and milk that is often flavored with vanilla or other flavors. It’s called chocolate because it contains cocoa butter but there is no actual cocoa in it.
You can always experiment with different flavors by mixing and matching different types of chocolate too. For example, a touch of milk chocolate might give your semi-sweet homemade chocolate a little bit of richness that will really enhance the flavor. Play around with the different kinds of chocolate until you find a mixture that really tastes great and make that your “signature” chocolate base.
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